Leather-working machine



J. H. WALCOTT LEATHER WORKING MACHINE y `f n; e

Patented Get. 6, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH H. WALC'OTT, OF SALEM, MASSAJHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HELBURN THOMP-SON COMPANY, OF SALEM, E/LSSLGTXUSETTS, 'A CORPORATIG-N OF MASSACHU-SETTS.

LEATI'IEEJNORKING MACHINE.

Application filed .Truc 3, 1924. Serial No. 717,582.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, losnrrr H. 1V.-\i. i o'rT. a citizen of the UnitedStates of America. and resident of Salem, in the county of Essex andState of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements inLeatherlVorking Machines7 of which the followingr is a specification.

This invention pertains to the treatment of sheet material and relatesmore particularly to the finishing and polishing of leather.

In the preparation of fine leathers, for example those employed forbookbindings, bags, etc., one of the final steps in the process consistsin rubbing the surface of the skin to impart a slight gloss thereto.This operation is not intended to produce a high gloss such as might besecured by calendering the leather or subjecting it to the action ofhighly polished and hard rubbing devices, but is designed merely toremove the dullness or dead appearance resulting from previousprocesses, such for example as embossing', whereby to exhibity the truebeauty of texture of the material.

Heretofore this desiredfslight gloss has been obtained manually7 theskin being spread upon a table and its finished surface being rubbedwith a felt or other soft and resilient pad held in the hand of theoperator until, the desired gloss is obtained. This is a slow andlaborious operation, and the principal object of the present inventionis to provide mechanism forv performing this process mechanically andwith greater rapidity than it can be performed by hand.

In the accompanying drawings, one desirable embodiment of the inventionis illustratedrby way of example, and in such drawings,-

Fig. 1 isa plan view, partly broken away, illustrating the invention asembodied in a power driven machine;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section substantially on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1;and

Fig. l is a front elevation of a desirable form of rubbing appliance. Inthat embodiment of the invention herein selected for illustration, theoperative parts of the machine lare mounted upon a table 1 having frontlegs 2 and rear legs 3.

This table is also provided at its opposite sides at points intermediateits front and rear edges with uprights 4i and 5 respectively, suchuprights extending to a point above the upper surface of the table for apurpose hereinafter described.

Brackets 6 are secured to the front legs and provide journal bearingsfoi` a shaft-7 carrying a guide roller 7"L so disposed that the uppersurface of the table is substantially tangent to the periphery of theroller.

Brackets 8 at the rear end of the table provide journal bearings for ashaft 9 parallel to the shaft 7 and provided with a roll 10 to which theupper surface of the table is also tangent. Preferably the bearings forone or both of the shafts 7 and 9 should be of adjustable type to permitthe rolls 7'LL and 10 to be positioned inaccurate parallelism and toadjust them to the proper height relatively to the top of the table.Such bearings are well known and form no essential part of the presentinvention, and therefore are not specifically illustrated.

Brackets 1].b are supported by the uprights 4 and 5 respectively nearthe lower ends of the latter and provide journalled bearings for a shaft11 provided with a guide roll 11, The bearings for shaft 11 are alsopreferably adjustable to permit tensioning the belt, hereinafterdescribed, and also to facilitate the removal of the belt.

The shaft 9 which carries the roller 10 is furnished with a sprocketwheel 12 driven An endless belt conveyor 16 passes around the rollers 7,10, and 11a respectively and comprises an upper horizontal run 17 whichextends lengthwise of the top of the table. This belt is desirably ofvery thin and flexible material so as to yield locally to accommodatevery small inequalities in the thickness of the skin during thepolishing process The table top is provided with an opening 18 extendingtransversely across from one of the uprights 4 to theother upright 5 andthe upper run 17 of the belt bridges this opening.

immediately above the opening 18 a shaft 19 is journalled in bracketscarried by the upwardly projeating parts of the uprights l and 5respectively. At one end this shaft is provided with a pulley 2O whichbe driven by a belt from any suitable source of power. it its other endthe shaft 15 furnished with a. gear 22 which meshes with a gear securedto the sprocket 13. roller 24 is secured to the shaft 19 and providedwith a resilient rubbing surface herein illustrated as consisting ofspirally disposed ribs 25 secured to the peripheral surface of theroller. Preferably the ribs 25 are arranged as indicated in t whereinthey extend in opposite spirals from a point inidway between the ends ofthe roller, such an arrangen'ient ten/i1 a well known manner to stretchthe rial laterally as the latter is passed beneath the roller. Thebearings for shaft 19 are preferably of adjustable type to permitaccurate setting of the roller 241i relatively to the belt 17, and totake up wear in the ribs 25.

The gearing connections between the shaft 19 and the shaft 9 are suchthat the run 1T of the belt 16 moves in a front to rear direction; whilethe opposed surface of the roller 2st moves in the same direction but ata greater surface speed.

er shaft 36 is journalled in bearings carried by the uprights 4 and 5respect icly a point below the table top, this shaft being parallel toand substantially in the vertical plane of the shaft 19. The shaft 26 isprovided with a roller 27 carrying brush bristles 28 disposed. to form acylindrical brush.

rThe bristles 28 are of such length that they project up through theopening` tl in the table into contact with the under side of the belt soas to support and press the latter resiliently upward as it passesacross the opening 18. The bearings for shaft 26 are preferablyadjustable to permit the brush to be set accurately with relation to thebelt 17.

1n the operation of the machine, the shaft 19 and the belt 16 are drivenas above indicated. The operator, standing in front of the machinespreads the skin to be treated upon the surface of the belt 17 and thelatter immediately moves the skin rearward# ly beneath the rubbing roll24. rits the surface speed of the roll is greater than that of thesupporting belt the roll'A rubs the sur" face of the leather and impartsthe desired gloss thereto. During this action of the rubbing-roll? thematerial is pressed upward,- ly into engagement therewith bv theresilient action of the brush bristles 28.

The resilient support thus afforded by the cylindrical brush results inthe production of that degree of gloss which is desirable and which hasonly been attainable heretotore by a manual* operation. lVloreover` itinsures uniformity of action. of the action of the rubbing roll eventhpugh the shin may 'vary slightly in thi-lenses freni point t0 point asit avoids the subjection of the non-uniform material to such pressure asmight cause the production of streaks or blotches upon the finishedsurface, p

lWhile rotating roll herein disclosed as constituting a desirable formof rubbing appliance, it is contemplated that other types of rubbern'iay be substituted therefor and also that in its broadestl aspects theinvention may include the substitution of other forms of resilientsupport than that furnished by the brush roll herein illustrated. Y

1t is to be understood that the invention is not coniined to theparticular embodiment herein disclosed. but that the details of construcion may be varied circumstances may warrant and as the art develops,without departing` from the spirit of the broad' invention which isherein disclosed I claim:

1. A' machine for polishing leather comprising a rubbingapp1iance,f1neans for feeding the leather to the rubbing appliance, anda resilient support forpressing the leather against the rubbingappliance.

2. A machine for polishing leather coin,- prising a rubbing appliance,an endless flex-v ible conveyor for feeding the material to the rubbingappliance, and a resilient support for holding the leather against therubbing appliance. 3. A machine for treating" sheet material comprising`a rotary rubbing roll, a. belt conf veyor for feeding the material to betreated to the roll, and a roll having a resilients rf face for pressingthe conveyor and the "InA .y terial resting thereon toward the rubbingroll.

l. A, machine for polishing leather comf prising aframe, a` sha-ftjournal'led therein, a rubbing roll mounted upon the shaft, a beltconveyor having one run thereof ar,- ranged substantially tangent to thesurface of the rubbing roll, nieans for movinghthe conveyor at a ratelessthan the surface speed of the roll, and means disposed upon the opposite side of the belt from the roll for re.- siliently pressing thebelt toward the roll.V

5. A machine for polishing leather comprising a power driven rubbingroller having a resilent surface, a feed beltv having a horizontal runarranged below and substantially tangent to the peripheral `surface ofthe roller, means for driving saidV belt at a speed less than thesurface speed of the roller, andia roller having a resilient surfacedisposed below the belt and supportingthe leather at, a point oppositeto the `rubbing roller. y U I A 6. A machine for use inpolishing leatherycomprising a power driven rubbing; roll, the

rubbing surface of the roll consisting of resilient peripheral ribsextending in opposite spirals from the center of the roll to-v ward itsopposite ends, a horizontal feed belt for presenting the leather to therubbing roll, and a brush roll below the belt supporting it at a pointopposite the rubbing roll.

7. A machine for use in polishing leather' comprising a power drivenrubbing roller having a resilient surface, a horizontally moving beltfor feeding the leather to the rubbing roller, the speed of the beltbeing less than the surface speed of the rubbing roller, and a brushroll parallel to the rubbing roller and disposed below the belt forsupporting the leather immediately below the rubbing roller.

S. A. machine for polishing leather comprising a table having horizontalrolls adjacent to its front and rear edges, an endless belt engagingsaid rolls and having one run extending horizontally over the table top,the latter having a transverse opening intei-mediate its front and rearedges, a rubbing roller mounted upon a transverse shaft arranged abovesaid opening, said roller having a resilient contact surface, theaforesaid run of the belt being substantially tangent to the peripheryof the roller, a second shaft parallel to the rubbing roller shaft journalled below the top of the table, said second shaft carrying acylindrical brush provided with projecting bristles of such lengths thatthey project up through the opening in the table and engage the undersurface of the aforesaid run of belt, power actuated means for drivingthe rubbing roller shaft, and means for driving the belt so as to niovesaid run thereof in the saine direction as the opposed surface of therubbing roller but at a surface speed less than the surface speed of thelatter.

Signed by ine at Salem, Massachusetts, this twenty-eighth day of May,1924.

,JOSEPH H, wALooTT.

